Sufism in Sindh covers the tradition of

Sufism Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

, which is reputed to be an area of

mystics A mystic is a person who practices mysticism, or a reference to a mystery, mystic craft, first hand-experience or the occult. Mystic may also refer to: Arts, entertainment Books and comics * Ms. Mystic, comic book superheroine * ''Mystic'' (c ...

. Sindh is famous for the enormous number of saints and mystics who lived there and preached peace and brotherhood.Naz, H., D.R. (2015). Significance of the Malfuz Literature as an Alternative Source of History: A Critical Study on the Tadhkirat Al-Murad as the Earliest Malfuz Compiled in Sindh. Pakistan Historical Society. Journal of the Pakistan Historical Society, 63(2), 83-99. According to popular legend, 125,000 of them are buried on Makli Hill near Thatta.Lal, Mohan.
Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: sasay to zorgot
'. Vol. 5. Sahitya Akademi, 1992. There is an abundance of Sufi literature produced in Sindh throughout history.

History

Early Period

Abdullah Shah Ghazi Abdullah Shah Ghazi () (c. 720 - c. 773) was a Muslim mystic and Sufi whose shrine is located in Clifton in Karachi, in Sindh province of Pakistan. Life in Sindh Abdullah Shah Ghazi was born in 98 Hijri Or 109 Hijri. In 738 he came to Karac ...

was a

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

mystic and one of the earliest Sufis in Sindh who came from Arabia. His father, Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya, was a descendant of the Islamic prophet

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

through his daughter

Fatimah Fatima bint Muhammad (; 605/15–632 CE), commonly known as Fatima al-Zahra' (), was the daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his wife Khadija bint Khuwaylid, Khadija. Fatima's husband was Ali, the fourth of the Rashidun caliphs and ...

. The mystic Husain ibn Mansur al Hallaj, who is credited with the utterance '' Anal Haqq'' ("I am The Creative Truth"), reached Sindh in 905, proceeding from

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

. He travelled extensively throughout Sindh and discussed theological matters with local sages. He inspired many poets and musicians in the region.

Sachal Sarmast Sachal Sarmast or Sacho Sarmast (; – 1827), was an 18th and 19th century Sindhi Sufi poet, mystic and philosopher from Daraza (present-day Sindh, Pakistan), regarded as an important figure in the Sindhi-language literature. He is revered ...

was one of the greatest admirers of Mansur Hallaj and pays homage to him in his poetry frequently. In

12th Century The 12th century is the period from 1101 to 1200 in accordance with the Julian calendar. In the history of European culture, this period is considered part of the High Middle Ages and overlaps with what is often called the Golden Age' of the ...

, a new wave of Sufi Mystics came to South Asia, these included Mu'in al-Din Chishti who brought the Chishtiyya order to

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

Lal Shahbaz Qalandar Sayyid Shah Hussain Jafari al-Marwandi , (1177 - 19 February 1274) popularly known as Lal Shahbaz Qalandar (), was a Sufi saint and poet who is revered in South Asia. In Taqaiyah, his maternal grandfather changed his name to Usman al-Marwandi o ...

, a Sufi saint from Sindh itself and founder of the Qalandariyya order, Baha-ud-din Zakariya, a

Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...

Muslim scholar saint and poet who established the ''

Suhrawardiyya The Suhrawardi order (, ) is a tariqa, Sufi order founded by Abu al-Najib Suhrawardi, Abu ’l-Nad̲j̲īb Suhrawardī (died 1168). Lacking a centralised structure, it eventually divided into various branches. The order was especially prominent i ...

'' order of

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

in medieval

Baba Farid Farīduddīn Masūd Ganjshakar ( – 16 Oct 1265), commonly known as Bābā Farīd or Sheikh Farīd (also in Anglicised spelling Fareed, Fareed ud-Deen, Masood, etc.), was a 13th-century Punjabi Muslim mystic, poet and preacher. Revered by ...

, a mystic, poet and preacher and Jalaluddin Surkh-Posh Bukhari. Bahauddin Zakariya, Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, Baba Farid and Syed Jalalauddin Bukhari, together became known as the legendary ''Haq Char Yaar'', or "Four friends" group. Friendship of these famous Sufi saints who were preaching in different regions of South Asia at that time helped spread Sufism in Sindh. Sufi Saints like Pir Mangho and Bodla Bahar were disciples of Baba Farid and Lal Shahbaz Qalandar who were greatly inspired by them and continued to spread Sufism in Sindh in

13th Century The 13th century was the century which lasted from January 1, 1201 (represented by the Roman numerals MCCI) through December 31, 1300 (MCCC) in accordance with the Julian calendar. The Mongol Empire was founded by Genghis Khan, which stretched ...

Middle Period

15th Century The 15th century was the century which spans the Julian calendar dates from 1 January 1401 (represented by the Roman numerals MCDI) to 31 December 1500 (MD). In Europe, the 15th century includes parts of the Late Middle Ages, the Early Re ...

, Sindh started producing many Sufi saints and poets of its own such as Makhdoom Bilawal and Qazi Qadan of Bukkur who is also known as "The Father of Classical Sindhi Poetry". Under

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an Early modern period, early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to ...

, Sindh saw a large number of Sufi Saints and poets these included Shah Abdul Karim Bulri, a Sufi Poet who was also the great-great-grandfather of another famous Sufi poet Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, Shah Inat Rizvi, Bibi Jamal Khatun, a female Sufi saint whose mother was daughter of Qazi Qadan and Shah Inayat Shaheed, another saint of Sindh who was executed on the orders of Mughal Emperor

Farrukhsiyar Farrukhsiyar (; 20 August 16839 April 1719), also spelled as Farrukh Siyar, was the tenth Mughal emperors, Mughal Emperor from 1713 to 1719. He rose to the throne after deposing his uncle Jahandar Shah. He was an emperor only in name, with all ...

.The socialist Sufi and the Jhok war
Dawn (newspaper), Published 20 July 2014, Retrieved 4 December 2021 Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai

18th Century The 18th century lasted from 1 January 1701 (represented by the Roman numerals MDCCI) to 31 December 1800 (MDCCC). During the 18th century, elements of Enlightenment thinking culminated in the Atlantic Revolutions. Revolutions began to ch ...

, Sufism had reached its high point in Sindh due to the poetry of Sufi Saints like

Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai (; 1689/1690 – 21 December 1752), commonly known by the honorifics ''Lakhino Latif'', ''Latif Ghot'', ''Bhittai'', and ''Bhit Jo Shah'', was a Sindhi Sufi mystic and poet from Pakistan, widely considered to be the ...

, Khawaja Muhammad Zaman of Luari, Mir Janullah Shah, Rohal Faqir and

Later Period

19th Century The 19th century began on 1 January 1801 (represented by the Roman numerals MDCCCI), and ended on 31 December 1900 (MCM). It was the 9th century of the 2nd millennium. It was characterized by vast social upheaval. Slavery was Abolitionism, ...

, Mughal Empire started declining and Sindh also saw a decline in Sufi poets and Saints. Some famous Sufi Saints and poets of this era from Sindh were Faqir Qadir Buksh Bedil and his son Muhammad Mohsin Bekas, Syed Misri Shah, Pir Hadi Hassan Bux Shah Jilani, Sufi Budhal Faqeer, Nadir Ali Shah, Khwaja Abdul Ghaffar Naqshbandi and Mewa Shah.

Modern Era

Sufism has become a primary marker of Sindhi identity for both Muslims and Hindus. Sufism ideology is continued to be practiced by locals even though some terrorists have tried to attack sufism by attacking modern sufis like Sayyid Ghulam Hussain Shah Bukhari and shrines like the one in

Sehwan Sharif Sehwan (; ; also commonly referred to as Sehwan Sharif or ''Noble Sehwan'') is a historic city located in Jamshoro District of Sindh province in Pakistan situated on the west bank of the Indus River north-west of Hyderabad. The city is renowned ...

which was the site of a suicide bombing in 2017 carried out by the

Islamic State The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS ...

Sufi Music

According to Michel Boivin, music is inseparable from Sufi poetry in Sindh.Boivin, Michel. "Devotional Literature and Sufism in Sindh in the Light of Dr. NB Baloch's contribution." ''Journal of the Pakistan Historical Society'' 9.4 (2012): 13-23. The author of the Akbarnamah wrote that the kafi music originated from Sindh. The art of 'musical narration' had received patronisation under the Soomra dynasty of Sindh and was further developed and patronised under the Sammahs. The most renowned Sindhi genre of poetry is the ''kafi'' which, according to Annemarie Schimmel, is accompanied by instruments and is a vehicle of mystical songs. Shah 'Abd al-Latif is seen as the greatest renovator of Sufi music in Sindh. The philosophy of Persian poets deeply influenced Sindhi Sufistic thought and poetry. During Muslim rule in Sindh, the works of

Rumi Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī (), or simply Rumi (30 September 1207 – 17 December 1273), was a 13th-century poet, Hanafi '' faqih'' (jurist), Maturidi theologian (''mutakallim''), and Sufi mystic born during the Khwarazmian Empire ...

Attar Attar, also known as ittar, is an essential oil derived from botanical or other natural sources. Most commonly these oils are extracted via hydrodistillation or steam distillation. Attar can also be expressed by chemical means but generally n ...

, Jami, Khayyam, Saadi and other poetic Persian mystics were keenly studied by both Hindu and Muslim scholars. Sachal was deeply influenced by Attar. Shah Abdul Latif was influenced by Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi.

Shrines of Sufi Saints in Sindh